LSU Basketball: Trendon Watford commitment bolsters 2019 class
By Neil Adler
The LSU basketball squad received a huge pick-up on Monday with the addition of Trendon Watford, a consensus top-20 prospect in the 2019 class.
The LSU basketball unit has endured quite a roller-coaster ride of late. The Tigers captured the SEC’s 2018-19 regular-season crown then saw its head coach, Will Wade, get suspended prior to this past March Madness, where LSU still managed to make a Sweet 16 run.
Despite Wade’s name surfacing on numerous occasions in recent trials held as a result of federal-government investigations into corruption in collegiate-hoops recruiting, he is back at the helm of the Tigers. Though this is a surprise to some of the sport’s pundits, Wade on Monday landed a pledge from one of the highest-rated members in the 2019 class who had yet to reveal his college destination.
Via his Twitter page, five-star power forward Trendon Watford said that he has chosen LSU, a humongous development for Wade and the Tigers, especially considering that the team will almost certainly lose 2018-19 stars Naz Reid, a power forward, and Tremont Waters, a point guard, to this June’s NBA Draft.
The 6-foot-9 Watford, out of Mountain Brook High School in Mountain Brook, Ala., is ranked in the top 20 nationally by the bevy of primary recruiting services. Per various media reports, Watford also considered Alabama, Indiana, where his brother Christian suited up, and Memphis.
In this 247Sports article, Trendon Watford cited his “close relationship” with Wade and assistant coach Bill Armstrong. “They’ve been on me since they made me a priority and they offered,” Watford explained. “They made it feel like they needed me, not just wanted me. It’s an awesome place and I gained trust throughout from both of them.”
Watford, who recruiting analysts peg as one of the premier 2019 power forwards in the country, as well as the No. 1 prospect in Alabama, joins three-star guards James Bishop and Charles Manning in LSU’s class for the next stanza, which 247Sports slots at No. 32 overall following Watford’s decision.
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While Reid and Waters will remain in the NBA Draft, guard Ja’vonte Smart has elected to return to the Tigers for his sophomore campaign. Smart’s news, coupled with Watford’s commitment, definitely provides a pair of bright spots for a LSU crew which has felt a bunch of ups and downs during the last two months. Assuming that Wade is truly in the clear, so to speak, the entire program may proceed with a sense of renewed optimism leading into the 2019-20 term.